Robert Lesnick got his MBA from Rice Business in 2000, where he was part of the school’s first Executive MBA cohort and was honored as a Jones Scholar. At this point in time, the program was mostly from the energy sector but from roles all over the industry.

Robert is now an executive advisor to the highest levels of governments and businesses seeking to develop policy and projects in the energy sector. His resume also includes a successful 30-year career in the private sector before leading the World Bank’s Petroleum Advisory Services Practice until 2013.

In his assignment at the World Bank, he managed the development of the business strategy and allocation of resources of the institution’s Petroleum Policy Advisory Services Unit and provided advice on a variety of energy policy topics to strategic government clients.

Robert joins host Christine to look at the state of energy and oil today, his career path from philosophy to the energy sector, roaming the globe working in international business development, and how Rice prepared him for it all.

Episode Quotes:
How energy affects every aspect of life

2:47 - Energy is built into everything we do. From the moment we wake up, turn on the light, to the stalk of broccoli that has to be shipped. And commercially throughout the world, it's just built into the price of everything.

Advice to future MBA students

23:50 - If someone says should I pursue an MBA, I would say absolutely. And in any way that it would allow you to become more of an international citizen of the world.  I would certainly try to leverage that because I really think business success is on the long term, a function of, how you can leverage global markets to your success.

What advice would you give a young person considering oil and gas? 

21:37 – The media and the political systems have kind of created a false sense of, not only what the energy companies do, but how badly fossil fuels are needed to meet growing energy needs of the world. And so, it's possible for recent graduates to think that the role and the work of energy companies is short-lived, or at least oil and gas companies are short-lived. You know, that's just not true. 

What Robert took from Rice

30:26 - I would just say that the homework never stops. Keep on learning and keep on using what you learned to develop your own success.

Show Links:

• Episode Transcript

Guest Profile:

• Professional Profile at The World Bank
• Robert Lesnick on LinkedIn